Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Time's Arrow, Part I"

Air date: 6/15/1992
Teleplay by Joe Menosky and Michael Piller
Story by Joe Menosky
Directed by Les Landau

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

And so the serviceable but uneven fifth season ends — with a serviceable but underwhelming "cliffhanger" that continues in the obligatory tradition of season-enders but definitely doesn't live up to the label in terms of its impact or suspense. After a number of memorably good and great episodes the second half of this season, "Time's Arrow" is a letdown, showing indications the writers took an average concept and tried to twist it into a two-part "event."

An archeological discovery finds Data's detached head, — yes, his head — buried in a cave beneath San Francisco. It has apparently been there for 500 years. Data concludes that in the future he will travel back in time where he will be destroyed in the 19th century. There's a certain intrigue and poignancy in watching Data matter-of-factly ponder the inevitable future of his own death, which up to this point was never guaranteed. Also found in the cave: traces of This Week's Technobabble, "triolic rays," which the Enterprise traces back to the planet Devidia II. There the investigation into the triolic rays reveals possible human life, but the readings are all phase-shifted because of a mysterious alien presence; Data uses a device to shift himself out of phase to further investigate, but then he gets pulled through a temporal vortex where he winds up in the late 19th century.

The scenes in the 19th century are where this story really kind of stalls out. Data has an extended conversation with a sick old 49er, then with a hotel bellhop (Michael Aron), and then plays a poker game (one of the players is Marc Alaimo, aka Dukat) in order to win some money to secure a hotel room and buy equipment for running his technobabble investigation via 19th century science. About this time he sees Guinan (!) in a newspaper story for a literary reception. (Back on the Enterprise, Guinan insists to Picard, with vague overtones of cosmic urgency, that he must go on the away mission to the planet surface.)

Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin) is among the noted guests at the literary reception, where he gives an extended speech about the significance of humanity in the universe (with Hardin chewing the scenery at length) that I'm afraid the story thinks is far more amusing and significant than it really is. (I'm not a literary historian and have no idea if Twain was this much of a showboat and an eccentric, but here his personality is out of scale compared to everything else.) The 19th century scenes are all sluggishly paced, and San Francisco just feels too much like a Hollywood backlot.

"Time's Arrow, Part I" is all setup and absolutely no payoff (as opposed to "Mr. Worf, fire," which is its own payoff). The final scene of the season has the crew following the mysterious aliens (who are apparently soul-eating time travelers!) through their temporal vortex and into the 19th century, but the execution is so lacking in juice and urgency that the music has to futilely sell us on how "significant" this ending is. I suppose this is okay as a whimsical hour of conventional time-travel sci-fi, but it's severely lacking as a season-ending hook.

40 comments on this review

I would give it 3 stars. It was intriguing and fun as set-up but the
payoff in part two really was underwhelming.

But here I was curious about what was going. The reveal of Data's head was
shocking when I first watched the show. The chronicling by Data of the
alien's realm was spooky and effectively done matched by the away team
finally phasing into it. I thought the snake cane and two aliens in their
19th century garb were terrifying. I was genuinely concerned by Data's trip
into the past--some of the scenes stalled yes but overall I thought the
episode got the job done in what it set out to do--I liked the Data/Geordi
scene in Ten Forward discussing Data's mortality, Guinan's cryptic comments
under her breath and the cliffhanger of the crew stepping into the past had
me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Was it as powerful as BoBW's? No but that was in a league of its own. I
still looked forward to the season 6 premiere.

I love the paradox in this episode (Futurama even re-used it with Bender's
head), that is classic sci-fi, but Jammer is right, it's lacking in energy,
particularly the weak cliffhanger.

I also see this episode as the answer to the question: "Why does Guinan see
her relationship with Picard as 'beyond friendship, beyond family'?" which
many fans consider un-answered.

I see it this way: When Guinan first met Picard, it was not the first time
he had met her. Conversely, when Picard first met Guinan, it was not the
first time she had met him. So their relationship really is *beyond*
friendship and family- it's a recursive friendship that goes beyond linear
time.

I read on Memory Alpha that this was originally just going to be a one-hour
finale, but with DS9 revving up the producers were afraid fans would assume
TNG was to be canceled, so they half-baked a 2-parter to ensure the fans
stuck around for season 6.

Smart idea. Stupid episode. Though the guy playing Twain is the spitting
image.

Right comments on the pacing and urgency complaints--but I found the
inverse to be true regarding sluggishness, the 19th century scenes charmed
and moved (yes and wanked a bit) while the 24th century scenes stuck out as
tired routine Enterprise mumbo-jumbo. The second part was strangely better,
but I think 2.5 stars is fair on the low side for this one. Given how
wonderful I found Twain's speech at the reception, I'd give it 3 stars).

Sidenote : while we all appreciate Trek's openminded fairness (I hope), how
is it that Guinan as a black woman in the 19th century is able to move
about in such circles. I applaud it from the stance of personal ethics, but
it completely sidesteps the reality of the time and place.

Yeah... for some reason, when I saw this two-parter as a kid, I loved it,
but I think i was really into Back to the Future heavily at that point, so,
I loved it.

Years later, that nostalgia and love for the episode is still there, but, I
can now see the flaws, and how the episode just stops, almost as an act
break. It's kinda dissapointing. Still like it a lot though, depsite it's
flaws.

I loved this episode. It gets a little slow side but at the same time I
felt that was a decision by the producers for the 19th century setting.
And I also agree that I find it highly unlikely any black woman would so
freely be found in the upper echelons of San Fran society in 1893.

As for Mark Twain, it seems that he makes or breaks the episode. For those
that liked the performance, the episode works, for those that find it
overdone, they don't like it. But Mark Twain WAS an overdone person, the
actor that portrayed him did a fantastic job, and he liked JUST like him.

The aliens scenes were creepy, and although there was the usual
technobabble, it was not worse than usual.

I would say that behind BOBW and all god things, this is easily the next
best 2 parter in TNG.

I remember the buzz about this episode on the BBSes when this was
"expected" - all the speculation (based on pre-release semispoilers): "Mark
Twain!?" "Guinan in the 19th century?!" "Data's head??!!" It was a severe
letdown. If the information about it being stretched into a two-parter is
right, frankly I'm not surprised. The aliens in this episode are abysmal.
No *depth* at all. On the other hand, I was one of the ones who also
noticed the explanation of two of Guinan's earlier remarks - not just the
"beyond friends and family" thing, but another. Guinan also told Geordi
(why is he almost always Geordi and not Mr. LaForge?) in "Booby Trap"
(IIRC) that she was attracted to bald men because a bald man was kind to
her once. People at the time took it to mean Picard, but very few people
noticed the possible explanation in this episode - or rather its sequel.

I probably would have sighed a bit at this season finale if I were an adult
when it first aired some twenty years ago. (Instead I ate it up undauntedly
like I did with all things space as a five-year-old. But I digress.)

Following "Best of Both Worlds, Part I" and "Redemption, Part I" this
episode definitely doesn't hit the mark. But as a small piece in the great
tapestry of Trek, viewing it while ignoring its place at the end of the
year, it's a solid three-star excursion. Fun all-around.

My biggest problem with this episode was a minor logic flaw. The Enterprise
finds Data's head underground on Earth from 500 years ago. They follow a
fossil ON THE HEAD (or in the cave, I don't recall) that leads them to
Devidia II.

Subsequently, Data argues with Picard that it is irrational for Picard to
keep Data on the ship on this mission, as we have no idea when he will be
sent back in time. And Picard agrees! "then I'll be irrational!"

Has everyone forgotten that the sole reason they are on this planet is
because something from this planet will be on Data or in the cave or
whatever when Data goes back in time? There is DIRECT connection between
this planet and Data's going back in time. It is not irrational to keep him
on the ship.

However, if the Enterprise had had simply gone on any other old mission and
Data happened to get sent back in time, we'd complain that it's awfully
coincidental that his time travel was mere days after his head is
discovered. The only reason I don't shout at the TV over the fact that it's
mere days between head-discovery and Data's being sent back in time IS
because his time travel occurs on Devidia II during the investigation into
the head and the clues from the cave. The head discovery leads Data to the
time jump.

I still hate that they don't acknowledge that this away mission might be a
bit more risky for Data to join than had they gone to Bajor or Vulcan.

PS: This episode was the start of a new Trek Era for me. The first 5
seasons were, for some reason, different to me than the last two. I
considered the former to be the "classic TNG" episodes while I considered
the latter to be the "trying to be TNG, but not quite living up to it"
episodes. Not that some of Season 6 and 7 weren't good episodes, but they
just felt like they were written, directed, acted or produced a bit
differently. A different look or feel to them, starting with this episode.
I think the characters were a little less formal and a little looser
starting with this episode. That annoying forced humour that showed up in
Nemesis and Insurrection started to show a bit in seasons 6 and 7, and the
writing just wasn't quite up to par. I think I started "regularly" watching
TNG around this episode, so maybe that's why I feel this way, but I always
feel like seasons 6 and 7 were like someone "coming back" to TNG after a
period of time and trying to start it up again but not quite succeeding.
You'd never see something like Fistful of Datas in Seasons 1-5 (ok, 2-5).

TH, I completely agree with you. I have voiced my complaints about the
scoring that got terrible about half-way through season 5, but I agree with
you, there is a sort of "forced" to the relationships between characters
that starts occurring in season 6 and 7, and it becomes blatantly forced in
the movies.

I have traced it to Picard smiling. I HATE Picard smiling. Everyone else
seems to think it is character growth, and i am Ok with the last scene in
"all good things", but for the next 2 seasons it is simply a "softer"
Picard that I find unwelcome. I have said before here, that I find
"yelling" Picard from season 1 far more enjoyable to watch than "Picard day
smiling idiot" from season 7...

I absolutely agree. Season 7 in particular has this utter blandness in it,
as if someone sucked all the joy out of storytelling and replaced it with
by-the-numbers plotting and character work. In fact, it reminds me of
Voyager to be honest.

Maybe it has something to do with some of the writing staff moving off to
DS9? Just guessing...

That's odd, because I found the declining quality of TNG to be it's attempt
at embracing a DS9-style world-view, with the introduction of Ro and the
Maquis (and of course the Cardassians and "Bajora") as well as dropping the
so-called "no-conflict rule," etc. TNG had to make room in its Universe for
DS9 and in so doing nearly lost its soul--the evidence is in the writing.
As for the staffing, I'd have to look it up, but this blah episode here was
written by two of Trek's most honoured and well-remembered writers, Menosky
(Darmok, Muse, Nth Degree, Blink of an Eye) and Piller (need I say more
than BOBW?).

I wonder if part of it was the actors. I noticed this in later season of
Seinfield. I sometimes wonder if when an actor portrays a character long
enough, he sort of stops acting. I feel like in season 7 it is very
noticeable that I am watching Stewart, Frakes, Sirtis, etc.. Vs Picard,
Riker, and Troi. It is really noticeable with Troi, watch her in the 2nd
season versus season 7 and it is almost gross. I feel like she rolled out
of bed in the morning, said a few lines, and ran with her check out of the
building. The only episode I enjoyed watching Troi in any any of the last
3 seasons was season 6 "face of the Enemy".

Well, I don't really see DS9 influence in those weak S6 and S7 TNG
episodes. Their weakness is a result of bad... I don't know, crafting, I
guess. They are bad because they are bad, not because someone shoved DS9
morals down our throats.

A total flop. As per the last few comments above, there does seem to be a
marked change in the last half of this season in quality, from the acting
to the scripts, to the cinematography (everything has a somewhat washed out
look, like the contrast or brightness button has been turned a bit too
low). Compare this soul snatching story to the Soul Hunter episodes on
Babylon 5, which were spookier.

Nick, excellent comparison with Seinfeld. I wholeheartedly agree; is it the
acting? Maybe partly, but I still think it's the writing mainly. The
writers in the last two seasons of BOTH series started taking things to
extremes and far-fetched scenarios that you wouldn't see in earlier season
[edit: in fairness, I think Seinfeld came back with many strong episodes in
the last season after a bad second last season. In Seinfeld, the whole
premise of the show-about-nothing was that these were scenarios everyone
could relate to or get into - a soft-talker who you nod at and you agree to
something you are unaware of; Dating a virgin (or someone shy about sex);
someone in front of you buys the last Rye; someone walks in on you getting
dressed and spreads a rumour... etc.

As the show went on, the characters and plots grew further unbelievable and
out-of-character (Kramer finds the Merv Griffin Show set and his life
becomes a talk show; J.Peterman pays Kramer for his life; Kramer
lives/cooks/etc. in his shower; Kramer somehow becomes hosts to Japanese
businessmen and lets them sleep in a chest of drawers? [I note a Kramer
pattern here] Jerry, Kramer and Elaine’s boyfriend all go get vasectomies
on a whim Jerry becomes a video bootlegger, Sometimes it was the premise
that was unbelievable and other times it was how the premise was handled,
eg: Elaine eats Peterman’s cake and gets effectively no punishment;
Elaine promotes Eddie the Army guy and suffers no real consequences, George
flys to Akron to give a comeback zinger to a colleague; The Postal Service
stalks and harasses Kramer because he doesn’t want to receive mail
anymore.).

The acting gets a bit exaggerated along with the writing and it all spirals
into too much. This all culminated in the finale which was completely
unbelievable and over the top. However, I don’t think I could instantly
identify “that’s a season 9 episode” just from the visual appearance
like I could on TNG. “The Cartoon” in which Kramer vows silence, Elaine
draws a cartoon for the New Yorker and Kathy Griffin has a one-woman show
about how evil Jerry is. Other than the fact that Kathy/Sally has
ridiculous success so quickly, the episode is fairly down-to-earth and
could easily fit into season 6 or 7.

On TNG, besides some extreme plots, (Fistful of datas, Rascals, Schisms,
Phantasms) I think there was just something about, as you say, the scoring,
the lighting, the video tape... something that just SEEMED different, and
yes, perhaps more Voyagery.

EG: Go to memory alpha and look up A Matter of Perspective vs. Second
Chances (I'd link, but they are disabled in comments). Or else go to the
Troi article. Look at the early shots of her compared to the one of her
rapidly aged from Man of the People. The latter shot is far brighter, less
contrast and less saturation - more blues less yellows.

Something was just "brighter" and more artificial about the lighting and
the sets and even the shots of the ship. I can't put my finger on what it
is, but it was noticeable enough that I recognized a change, and can easily
tell you from most screenshot whether an episode is pre- or post- season
6.

But I still think it's the writing. You have shows like Relics in that time
that are still wonderful. They do LOOK different, but they end up as good
episodes. Whereas timescale, a plot I could see having been done in season
4, just seems off in season 6. Having Picard draw a happy face? In season
4, he might have given an unusual Order or said something confusing that
didn’t make sense, but he wouldn’t have acted like he was 10 years old.
They would have been more subtle. And Picard’s impression of the lecturer
who kept "talking and talking" - he would never have been that casual
pre-season 6. He was portrayed as taking everything in life seriously and
rarely joking about a distinguished lecturer. It was too out of character.
The look was half of the problem while the script was the other half, I
think.

As a slight post-script to my previous posts, I'll note that the first time
I saw the online preview clip for the new TNG BluRay upgrade (the clip that
shows some encounter at farpoint footage with lots of wipes to show you the
original vs. cleaned up footage), it got to the panel showing Picard and Q
and the wipe turned their uniforms from a sort of dusty mauve to a striking
scarlet, and that's when I realized fairly conclusively that lighting and
colour are a significant part of what made the seasons really stand apart.
As soon as they wiped to the new colours, I felt like I could have been
watching a shot from season 7. I also realized that when shot in proper
colour, I actually didn't mind the season 1/2 jumpsuits that much. Picard
looks a lot better in it when the colour is on.

I'm really curious to see if a full episode of the BluRay changes my
perception of the early episodes. I'm also hoping they do what they did
with TOS and provide the unremastered and remastered versions via the
'alternate angle' option.

The irony I love most about this episode...everyone is so broken up that
Data is going to die, but two episodes earlier Geordi is presumed dead and
no one sheds a tear! They even throw a party at his service!

I grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain set his most famous books, so
I've seen a few Twain imitators. This guy was more annoying than any of
them. And what's with walking around at a party, pontificating in a loud
voice about how stupid people are who disagree with you? Did people really
do that?

I had to laugh when Data said his head was proof that he would die. "It
has happened. It will happen." Come on, they've all taken Temporal
Mechanics; they know there are all sorts of loopholes when it comes to time
travel. The way Trek treats time, the past is endlessly malleable, so
Data's head proved nothing at all, except that it was really dumb to go
straight to the only planet where he could pick up the bacteria they found
with the head.

In this particular episode I enjoyed learning more about Guinan, although
the time-travel story as a whole was a bit hokey.

The aliens were fairly original though.

I did think that Data was more data-like in this episode (in terms of
excessively technical vocabulary, even when dealing with people who would
clearly respond to something more colloquial, which Data is capable of). In
the sequel I was amused by the travelling theatre company disguise.

@TH, a big, big part in the difference in tone (and quality) in Seinfeld is
that Larry David left after seasons seven. It's not that the show hadn't
gotten more outlandish in the years leading up to season seven, but Larry
David's voice was a big part of what made that shoe recognizably what it
was, and the loss of Larry David meant both that there was no one to stop
Jerry Seinfeld himself and the other writers from following whatever crazy
idea they thought of, but, because of the loss of David's voice, the
writers (and cast) kind of compensated by making the plotlines more extreme
and bizarre. There are still some good moments in the last two Seinfeld
seasons but it is, basically, in significant respects a different show, and
a much lesser one IMO. (Not that Larry David was perfect or anything; the
finale was his doing and all.)

On TNG, I find it hard to explain exactly what the development over the
years was. There is a movement from the brazen, bright, silly first season
to the crisp, strong middle years to the slow, dull, final season. I think
that season six is pretty good overall, though it's more like season seven
in tone than it is like season three.

Thoughts on s5 as a whole: Starting with my usual "how do my ratings differ
from Jammer's"; some of these ratings have changed since I did my
review-ish posts (which is not for every episodes). If I don't note an
episode it's the same rating.

Season five has, I am almost certain, the biggest first half/second half
split of any TNG season. The first three episodes are dealing with old
business ("Redemption II"), introducing new business ("Ensign Ro") and one
instant classic ("Darmok") and is good. But then the next 10 episodes in
the season's first half are, if almost never outright bad, a consistent
disappointment and generally mediocre. I like "Unification I" and "Hero
Worship," and a few others are decent enough, but it is a generally rough
time. I think only "A Matter of Time" strikes me as poor, but even that is
mostly just an absence of workable material; what this run mostly is is a
long slog of competent but unimpressive outings.

Then comes "Conundrum" and "Power Play," both around 2.5-3 stars but
exciting shows, and suddenly a run from "Ethics" to "I, Borg" in which
every episode is, for me, either excellent (3.5-4) or terrible (1-1.5) --
which is not that different on average from the season's first half, but
I'd take a run with "Ethics," "Cause and Effect," "The First Duty," "The
Perfect Mate," and "I, Borg" over a mediocre run even if it does have "The
Outcast," "Cost of Living" and "Imaginary Friend." "The Next Phase" is
good-but-not-great, and "Time's Arrow" is okayish, but "The Inner Light"
is..."The Inner Light." So the second half of the season overall is
inconsistent but with maybe the highest concentration of brilliant,
top-drawer episodes in any half-season, at least for me. Overall, I think
the first half of season five is weak like nothing since season one, but
the second half is around the best the show does (maybe not THE best, but
close to it), making for a weird, up-and-down experience of a season.

Other things I noticed: there's a real drop-off in Data stories this year;
season four had "Brothers," "Data's Day," "Clues" and "In Theory," all of
which were good and one of which ("Brothers") was exceptional. I think
Data himself was always well done, except maybe in "A Matter of Time," and
he was prominent of course in "Redemption II," "Silicon Avatar,"
"Unification," "Hero Worship" and "Time's Arrow," as well as very
significant in "Cause and Effect" and "The Next Phase." All of these had
some good Data material, but not much really pushes his character forward;
the most interesting for me were probably Data's considerations of death in
"The Next Phase" and "Time's Arrow," as well as his brief tenure in command
in "Redemption II."

There is a corresponding increase in Picard stories, though. "Darmok,"
"The Inner Light" and "The Perfect Mate" are pretty definitive as Picard
stories, and "The First Duty" and "I, Borg" are close behind. Picard also
avoids too much participation in the season's worst episodes, and even his
material in "Disaster" was some of the most fun in that ep.

Otherwise: Alexander has not really done wonders for Worf's character,
though I appreciate the idea of Worf taking responsibility for his child.
"Ethics" was good for Worf, as was "Redemption II" though I wish it had
gone further. Riker didn't have a great year -- "The Outcast" is about his
only starring show and it didn't work for me, though "Ethics" is a
significant boon. "I, Borg" is probably my favourite use of Geordi as
tech-friendly everyman in the series, so that's good. Deanna, well, she
pretty much never has good seasons, so. Crusher does get good material in
"Ethics" and "I, Borg."

It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that Data or anyone else would
assume he would die shortly... Obviously there's been time travel involved,
so he could have been sent back to the 19th century from the 58th century
for all (we) they know...

Same as Data's remark on how he didn't realize Guinan's lifespan was so
long because he sees her in the 19th century. She could have just as easily
been sent back here from the 22th century or even 23d before they knew each
other.

I hate those time travel episodes because they ALWAYS are completely
illogical.

I loved Time's Arrow. However I kept waiting for more of an
explanation/clarification about why Guinan was on earth in the 19th
century, but okay... maybe I just have to rewatch (such a chore...lol).
After a few disappointments, I was very glad that season 5 ended with a
string of good episodes, or at least episodes that *I* liked a lot. Time's
Arrow, The Outcast, First Duty, I, Borg, The Inner Light, The next
phase.... all fantastic.

I loved how detached (pun intended) Data was about discovering his head on
Earth. Yes, he's an emotionless android, but it was still amusing. I wish
this had been developed a bit further - everyone else's emotional responses
vs. Data's detachment (again, I know, but I can't resist).

Amusing/entertaining on a surface level. I tend to give episodes the
benefit of the doubt when they're entertaining enough for me that I can
mostly ignore plot holes/contrivances/stupid science/outlandish plots/etc.

First of all, I think I disagree a bit with William B that S5 had the
largest shift in quality between the first and second half. While the
second half may have had a better ratio of good episodes, I think most of
the really bad episodes were also in the second half (Imaginary Friend,
Outcast, and Cost of Living). The first half was just more uniformly
bland, but the few highlights from the second half didn't quite stand out
as much as the highlights of S3. In any case, though, I think Season 1
still reigns as the largest improvement in quality between first and second
half, even if it was just going from downright awful to mostly watchable.

People tend to see Season 5 as a transition between the peak of TNG and its
decline. I think part of the reason for that is that there was a bit of a
transition from character and universe defining stories to plot defining
stories. If you were to give a one line description of the plot of an
episode, how important would that one line be to understanding the episode?
It seems to me that it becomes more important in the later seasons than in
the earlier ones, which can have its advantages but also major
disadvantages as well.

Take The Defector, for instance. The Hero must decide whether or not to
trust an enemy defector, and the ramifications of this decision could
either start or prevent a war. That's an interesting topic to explore, of
course, but it's hardly original or unique. You could take the entire
episode and translate it to a Cold War setting and it would fit just fine
(other than the cloaked ship ending, of course...). But it was a character
defining piece for Picard, and it was a universe defining piece for
Romulans. TNG's version of this rather vague plotline was the reason the
episode is excellent, not just the idea of the plot itself. Even though
the plot doesn't require TNG characters, the execution of the episode
does.

Measure of a Man is perhaps a better example. The question of rights for
robots is already massively abundant in science fiction. But because we
care for Data, and because we feel for Picard as his advocate, the episode
turned out to be very good, and is considered a harbinger for the heights
of Seasons 3 and 4.

Or look at Sins of the Father and Reunion. These stories came about
because Worf existed and were built around him. The plot pieces
surrounding the episodes may be unoriginal, but the stories work because of
who Worf is. Building such tales around a guest star of the week would
have ruined them.

Now, with that said, compare these classics to one of the classics of
Season 5: Cause and Effect. The one line synopsis: A starship is caught in
a time loop where it is constantly destroyed and then sent back in time to
repeat the events again. An intriguing, unique idea. And the execution of
the idea was very well done. But what, exactly, makes the TNG version of
this plot shine? What about TNG made this a better episode than if the
idea had appeared in the Twilight Zone or Voyager or a short story?

I can't really tink of any. Picard's presence isn't important for this
tale. Worf's presence isn't important. Data has a plot point, but that's
about it. None of the other characters matter. This episode could be
lifted wholesale and put into Voyager without missing a beat. I don't
think that would work with Defector or Yesterday's Enterprise or Measure of
a Man or Sins of the Father or BoBW or whatever. But here, the TNG
atmosphere is window dressing.

That's not necessarily bad. We like these characters, and its ok to just
see them reacting to weird events sometimes. But I think it's harder to
have a really impactful story within a serialized universe when the
universe itself is just the carrier for the plot. You watch Cause and
Effect, and think "That was pretty cool!" You watch Yesterday's
Enterprise, and you say "Whoa..." Both are positive results, but the
latter resonates with you longer.

Now let's look at two other classics of Season 5: Darmok and the Inner
Light. I'd consider these somewhat of hybrids of the "universe-driven" vs
"plot driven" dichotomy I mentioned above. In both of these cases, the
one-line synopsis plays a very big role in the quality of the final
episode. They are both very unique, original ideas and rely on being a
unique, original idea. But in Darmok's case, the fact that this is a TNG
episode is very important. The theme fits TNG's ethos of exploring new
life perfectly, and it fits Picard perfectly. Having Janeway or Sisko or
even Kirk be opposite Dathon would have lessened the episode. It's because
Picard is who he is that makes this episode shine. Inner Light also
benefits from TNG's ethos, although to a lesser extent. Frankly, I think
it benefits more from being a Patrick Stewart story than being a Jean-Luc
Picard story. There are some residual themes that work with Picard, but
the episode would have worked with any character played by as brilliant an
actor as Stewart is.

It seems moving forward that these sorts of episodes that benefit
significantly from being in TNG become more and more scarce. Maybe it's
just the rise of Brannon Braga; I don't know. But I'm thinking of the
episodes I really like from seasons 6 and 7 and thinking which one's are
universe-defined like in Season 3, and I'm coming up with very few. Frame
of Mind? Parallels? They're fun to watch, and it's fun to watch TNG
characters within the episodes, but that's about it. It's more like the
characters themselves are just actors playing out roles; the episodes don't
seem to mean anything. I don't think that's necessarily TNG's fault (I
tend to think most TV shows have hit their peak by season 5), but it does
make these episodes less memorable and less impactful. I've been
personally rating episodes on a 0-5 scale, with 5 stars being reserved only
for the best of the best. Other than All Good Things, I'm not sure I'm
going to be giving out any more.

Jammer, your review is exactly how I feel about the episodes. The Samual
Clemmons character is annoying. The voice seems to be a sort of
extrapolation and exaggeration from his folksy talk in some of his books.
In this case less would be a lot more, make him sound a bit more like Andy
Rooney, I bet that would have worked AND made him more of a believable
character (also give the actor a good reference).
The full circle of Guinan-Picard was a great payoff and the highlight of
the episode.
The period costumes worked great for all the crew and Guinan looked great.
The aliens themselves were hard to get into. I suspect Roddenberry
wouldn't have liked the aliens either since he was a big advocate of
showing alien's eyes. They are the weak point in the episodes. (Some
might like that they were very different and I give them credit for trying
but it was hard to get intrigued by them and to relate to them.)

A note about the blu ray disks, they are already made BUT it seems to me
considering how much room is on a blu ray to put the second of the two
parters on the last disk (and possibly the first part on the subsequent
season) It is a bit annoying to have to change disks.

Well, that certainly was no "The Best of Both Worlds" or "Redemption." For
an episode that deals with Data's possible death, time travel,
soul-consuming aliens from the future, a look into Picard and Guinan's
backstory and Mark Twain and is a season ending cliffhanger, there's a
rather surprising lack of energy and excitement to "Time's Arrow, Part I."

Let me just say that I don't mind time travel stories in Trek. I don't
even mind holodeck malfunction stories. So, I'm not going to hold that
against the episode. In fact, most times when people start complaining
about the overuse of time travel and/or the holodeck, it seems (to me
anyway) to be nothing more than whining. Time travel isn't the problem
here. Jammer said it better than I could with this - "'Time's Arrow, Part
I' is all setup and absolutely no payoff."

Really, what else is there to say about it? It isn't bad, but it isn't
good either. It's just another episode like "Hero Worship" and "Imaginary
Friend" - mind-numbingly average, average, average. It really does seem
like this was a one-part episode that was stretched almost beyond the
breaking point to become a two-parter. Nothing really amounts to anything.
I suppose I could point out how ridiculous the crew's reaction to Data's
severed head was. Why are they so off-put by Data's matter-of-factness
about the whole situation? He's an android people; you know he doesn't
have emotions! Thankfully those scenes don't last long. I suppose I could
point out how enjoyable Picard's statement of "Then I'll be irrational!"
was. But when that truly brief moment is the highlight of the episode -
well, you see the problem. Even the alien antagonists come across as
fairly uninteresting, though the episode seemed hell-bent on making me
think they were terrifying. The problem here (once again, just like with
"Hero Worship" and "Imaginary Friend") is that I'm nitpicking. And that
should probably be a major hint as to the score I'm going to give the
episode.

As for the Twain character - well, a lot of people appear to either love
him or hate him. For me, he was just like everything else in "Time's
Arrow, Part I." I didn't think he was particularly bad (Twain was a rather
larger-than-life guy in real life after all). But, I didn't think he was
particularly good either. Nothing about the performance or the character
himself made me hope to see more of him in Part II. In the end, he was
probably an unnecessary addition to the story that really added nothing
either way and could have been cut without, therefore, losing anything
either way. Just another average piece in an average puzzle.

I feel kind of bad not having anything else to say about a season finale,
but there it is.

Average Season Score: 5.731
Average Series Score: 4.936
Final TOS Average Score: 5.150

Best Episode: I, Borg
Worst Episode: The Masterpiece Society

This season was something of a mixed bag. It's the first season since the
abysmal depths of Season One to not give us any 10 out of 10 episodes. In
fact, it only managed to deliver one classic episode (which I consider to
be episodes with scores of 9 or 10) - "I, Borg." But, it's also the very
first season of TNG (and the first since TOS Season Two) to not give us any
0 out of 10 episodes either. While it's a slight step down in overall
quality from the previous season, that's not by much - Season Four had a
score of 5.885 and Season Five gets a score of 5.731 - and it still managed
to exactly tie (with 149 total points out of 260) the single best season of
TOS (Season Two).

TNG is slowly but surely crawling its way out of the basement it dug for
itself in its first two years and is slowly closing in on TOS's final
average score.

I've seen a lot of people saying that TNG was really past its prime after
Season Four. Well, that might be the case. I doubt Seasons Six and Seven
will be able to match Season Four's high score. But, if this is TNG past
its prime, I'll gladly take it. Because it is still damn fine
entertainment overall.

Indeed a disappointing end to the series, and one in which there is no real
cliffhanger, simply a wait a few months for the rest of the story to
start.

What's such a shame is that the concept is marvelous - as a shock intro the
revelation of Data's head is right up there. But really we then get into
something that feels like a holodeck episode. That's not to say that there
aren't some really nice touches - Data's acceptance of his mortality and
how he communicates it is very well written. And how quickly he adapts to
19th century life is also a joy. But one wonders how the Guinan element is
going to play out - yes, it's intriguing for the moment, but we have to
wait to see how it's resolved and that's not really enough to bump up the
score for this episode. 2.5 stars.

=====

Fascinating. Looking back over the scores I gave this series we come out at
an average of 2.69 - exactly the same as series 3 and a hair better than
series 4. I was so surprised that I had to have another look to make sure
I'd calculated properly. But on a more careful examination the answer is
clear.

The first 16 shows average 2.43, and there's a lot of middle range
episodes, with very few really good or indeed real stinkers. The last ten
episodes average 3.1, with 7 of 10 episodes scoring 3 or above (including
two 4-star shows) compared to only three in the first 16. So what we have
here is a game of two halves, whereby the excellent end to the series lifts
the average first half, which at least was consistently OK.

Moonie, you said, "I kept waiting for more of an explanation/clarification
about why Guinan was on earth in the 19th century, but okay... maybe I just
have to rewatch"

I love this idea and I'll tell you my thoughts. I have heard people
irritated at the conceit that Guinan was there when they all went back in
time because it was too much of a coincidence, but I don't think so. This
is when Guinan first meets them and Data tells her that he knows her from
serving together on the Enterprise. She also learns that Picard is Captain
of the Enterprise.

Therefore, when Guinan loses her home, she seeks out the Enterprise and
Picard and gets a job there. I think that was intentional on her part--she
knew that their lives were to cross. And after handsome Jean-Luc telling
her they'd be romantic partners, she felt that was worth 500 years of
waiting.

More directly to your question, Guinan tells us that she is on Earth to
"listen," as her El-Aurian people do. Memory Alpha gets this wrong, in my
opinion--they say she was on Earth to hide from her father. Based on her
conversation with Data when she thinks her father has sent him, her father
knew where she was and she simply wanted to tell him that she wasn't done
listening. There was no hiding--she was simply irritated that she thought
her Dad was worried about her and wanted to be left alone to continue her
listening.

So that's my take on it. I think they handled this aspect really well.
Time travel is notoriously tricky to do, but in Guinan's case I think they
covered all the bases. The only thing I dislike is future Picard telling
past Guinan that their relationship "goes far beyond friendship." The only
way to interpret that is romantic and we know that's wrong. It would have
been better for Picard to say something like "you will be the best friend I
ever have."

Overall I really like this episode. I think Data and Jack London's
relationship is a delight, and the Guinan bits are wonderful. I like
Twain's take on society and his bravery. The rest of them interacting with
19th century society is ridiculous--why the hell is Beverly wearing those
idiotic glasses? She has perfect vision and lots of people in the 19th
century didn't wear glasses. But somebody on the costume staff thought it
made her look old-fashioned, so granny glasses it is! The women's hair is
also ridiculous--you don't need permanents to blend in with that time.

I'll admit I enjoyed this two parter despite the holes (when has an episode
of Trek not had holes? As long as the episode is entertaining I can usually
forgive them).

The 19th century scenes did drag a bit, especially when Twain was talking
(was it really necessary for him to have so much dialogue?) but I
appreciated a lot of the gags, and the way Spiner really played up being
disturbed at finding the head (a much better likeness than the model from
1st season) piqued my interest enough that I actually jumped at the
reveal. (I'm usually childishly entertained by the weird faces he's always
making, but at the same time have to wonder why he's so much better at
portraying subtle emotions than most of the other crew. It's always a bit
jarring when he actually plays a scene straight and makes Data act as
emotionlessly as he's supposed to be as a result.) The description of the
aliens was much creepier in my mind than the lame way they actually
appeared, but TNG aliens are almost exclusively humanoid so I shouldnt have
expected anything different.

It was kind of a cop-out for Data's head to be "dead" this episode but able
to be reactivated and immediately put back on duty in the next (it's been
shown to be able to function fine while removed before so you'd think
they'd have tried reactivating it and asking it what happened to it... No
wait, that would draw too much attention to the paradox of it existing in
two places at once, I guess). Picard being willing to fry the aliens for
poaching Earth was a nice change from his usual hand-wringing about
self-defense.

I wish there was more explanation of Picard and Guinan, is this really
supposed to be the only basis for their "closer than lovers, closer than
family" relationship? I was expecting some great adventure together, not a
happen chance meeting with barely any interaction. And why do they
automatically assume that Guinan is even older than she previously told
them, when she could have time traveled there as well from a different
point in the future? Anyway, like always lots of holes, but fun enough that
I was mostly entertained.

Recently re-watched this episode, in my top 5, and realized something
that's always bugged me. Clemens mentions Mr. Whitley from the geological
survey and Data says he doesn't know the man's name but he talks with
several people in that office. Given the time period he was in certainly
he would have been introduced by name or at somepoint he would have learned
the names of everyone in the office. Name plates, on pieces of paper,
conversation, etc. He'd only have to hear it once and he'd remember it
perfectly forever. The way they play it and the line written would be more
like a human would have probably heard it and just didn't remember as
that'd be very common for anyone other than Data.

I have to note the similarities and differences between Data's desire for
death in this episode and Asimov's character's desire for death in The
Positronic Man (I believe that's the name of the story I'm thinking of?
It's been years since I've read that story and even longer since I
completely watched through the almost unwatchable TV adaptation,
"Bicentennial Man". (I'm not a fan of Robbin Willliams, his way of speaking
and acting in pretty much everything I ever saw/heard him in always made me
feel very embarrassed by/for and very bad for him, as though he hated
himself and was willing to do any humiliating or self-defacing thing to
make me laugh. I felt like I was watching a man with little to no self
respect/esteem torture himself for my amusement, it's very hard to watch.
Given how things turned out I wonder if my feelings weren't too far off the
mark, poor man.)

Data makes for a poor Bicentennial Man. Given what I remember of the story,
in that one the robot chose to die so that he would be granted human
status. In this episode Data is happy to learn he will die because it makes
him feel closer to his human companions. In Asimov's story it makes sense,
because the robot has done everything possible to make himself as human as
possible, and dying from old age is just the final step. It makes less
sense for Data to want to die, especially since his death is not a natural
one (despite what he claims unless he's replacing/upgrading his parts as he
goes along he will wear out and naturally "die" some time in the distant
future) but shown to be a seemingly violent end. For all he knows he may be
no more long lived than a humanoid like Guinan, not knowing the length of
his life-span hardly means he's immortal and is a really illogical
conclusion for him to come to. Even if he was "immortal" he's still
obviously able to be destroyed, just like anything else. If existing
indefinitely truly disturbed him enough that finding his own remains
comforted him, he could have just as easily decided that one day he will
have himself destroyed (I don't recall any of his programming making him
unable to do so). There are species in Star Trek that do appear to live
forever, like the Q, so fixating on having a death at all reflects his
desire for humanity, rather than a desire for becoming "alive". It is an
interesting look at the character, but really cements how odd some of his
conclusions are.

@Ross I don't remember the exact lines, but it's possible Whitley was a
secretary or the like, and thus while frequently talked to wasn't important
enough to be introduced by name or was introduced by first name only. I'm
not saying they didn't fudge it with Data (they do slip up and I think
someone mentioned Spiner would ocassionally throw in some contractions just
to see if they'd catch it (they didn't)) just that we could probably
imagine a plausible explanation in this case.